Film Analysis of All That Heaven Allows Essays -- Papers Movie Film Ci

Film Analysis of All That Heaven Allows Chosen sequence: Golden Rain Tree/Cary's bedroom scene. Before the emergence of 'auteur theory' the director Douglas Sirk was a renowned exponent of classical Hollywood narrative, particularly in the genre of romantic melodrama, of which his film All That Heaven Allows is a classic example. However, he is now regarded as a master of mise-en-scene, one of the few tools left to a director working within the constraints of the Hollywood studio/institutional system who is now thought to have been highly critical of American mainstream culture and society in this prosperous era. 1, 2 The 'Golden Rain Tree' sequence occurs early on in the film after the opening panoramic, establishing shot - showing the scene of the action, a small middle-class New England town in autumn. The main protagonists are soon introduced of which the prime causal agent is an unsettled woman, Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), in keeping with romantic melodrama. As a widow, she is a victim of circumstance who is eager to change her life. Her friend visits (Mona) and hopes to persuade Cary to take a conventional route out of widowhood but, by chance, she meets the gardener, Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson) and from the mise-en-scene in these opening scenes it is obvious that she would prefer a romantic affiliation of some sort with Ron. After a few pleasantries, some tea at the table outside Cary's house and some profound references to gardening, Ron goes to hand Cary a small brance/twig, evidently a token of deep affection. The film so far displays all the conventions of classical narrative and maintains all the dominant ideologies o... ...lassical narrative cinema. In Being There, the character and motives of Gardiner are made much clearer to the viewer through the imaginative use of mise-en-scene, as illustrated above. NOTES 1. Carroll. Essay The Moral Ecology of Melodrama: The Family Plot and Magnificent Obsession. p. 170. 2. Cook. p. 76-79. BIBLIOGRAPHY An Introduction to Film Studies Jill Nelmes (ed.) Routledge 1996 Anatomy of Film Bernard H. Dick St. Martins Press 1998 Key Concepts in Cinema Studies Susan Hayward Routledge 1996 Teach Yourself Film Studies Warren Buckland Hodder & Stoughton 1998 Interpreting the Moving Image Noel Carroll Cambridge University Press 1998 The Cinema Book Pam Cook (ed.) BFI 1985 FILMOGRAPHY All That Heaven Allows Dir. Douglas Sirk Universal 1955 Being There Dir. Hal Ashby 1979